Bainbridge welcomes MLK Center employee

Appreciative of the two King Center banners they received to
share at events to honor the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and
Black History Month, Bainbridge residents greeted a woman who works
at the Atlanta national historic site and her son recently when
they visited the Puget Sound area.

Juanita Robinson, the gift shop manager at The King Center, came
to the area because her 25-year-old son Thomas was participating in
the U.S. Track & Field Club Nationals in Tacoma July 11-12.
Thomas competed for the Atlanta Track Club and finished eighth in
the 100-meter dash with a finals time of 11.43 seconds.

The 8-foot-tall King Center banners were also shared at the Navy
Undersea Engineering Museum at Keyport, Kitsap County Fairground
President’s Hall, Olympic College in Bremerton and the Washington
state African-American awards program at Bremerton High. On
Bainbridge Island, the banners were displayed at Bethany Lutheran
Church, Ordway Elementary School and at the Filipino-American
Community Hall for the 15th annual community celebration Kitsap
Sing Out! in January.

The Robinsons visited Chief Seattle’s gravesite, St. Peters
Mission Church, Ol’ Man House Park in Suquamish, as well as the
Suquamish Veterans Memorial, Suquamish Museum and House of the
Awakened Culture. They also toured the Bainbridge Island Japanese
American Exclusion Memorial.

The Suquamish Tribe at the Clearwater Resort co-hosted the
visitors. Upon the Robinsons return to Georgia, they were given
books and publications for The King Center Library by the Suquamish
Museum, Bainbridge Island Historical Museum, Kitsap Black History
Museum, Bainbridge Island Japanese-American community,
Bainbridge Island School District, Experience Music Project Museum
and Sing Out Kitsap!

Robinson said she was “overjoyed and ever so grateful” to visit
the Bainbridge and Suquamish communities.

About Ethan Fowler

Ethan Fowler has more than 20 years of journalism experience with 19 years of daily and weekly newspaper experience covering news, features and sports, as well as being an editor for 14 of those years. He has won several writing awards over the years in Washington state, Virginia, Texas and Georgia, including award-winning investigative journalism.
Fowler was paid by the Review & Herald Publishing Association in 2009 to co-author a book, "Brushed Back: The Story of Trevor Bullock," with his wife. The book details the real life of a top minor league pitcher in the Philadelphia Phillies organization and his Christian faith. "Brushed Back" has sold more than 2,000 copies since its release.
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